The Spanish Bow was very good, but short of excellent, I think. If you know anything about Spain in the last 100 years, the 'suprises' in this novel are too easy to pick out. However, the writing is solid and the story is well fabricated.
Interestingly, I DON'T know a whole lot about the history of Spain, but this book jump-started an interest there. I am now reading Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and its Silent Past as a result, and this I can recommend highly as a readable introduction to the history of a fascinating country. The author is a writer for the Guardian, seemingly my dad's paper of choice (online, anyway,) and his voice and experiences living in Spain suit this kind of book well.
I put down The Spanish Bow twice to read books in between (telling, really...) One of these was the new Terry Pratchett, mentioned very early on in my lame blog. Making Money reinforces the fun of the new-to-discworld character of Moist Von Lipwig, but can't quite match Going Postal in terms of the spot-on satire.
Now, on to An Arsonists' Guide to Writers' Homes In New England by Brock Clarke and Origin, by Diana Abu-Jaber.
2 comments:
I've been told to read "Sex Lives of Cannibals."
Any thoughts?
Funny, I had that title recommended to me recently too. Havenae read it, but two mentions so close together usually means it's a go.
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